* This will be a repeating idea, but with different images, because it can be fun. For an example of a story that essentially STARTS this way, read Andy Weir’s The Martian. The movie, while excellent, does Hollywood things to the sequence of events, so read the original for this.
** Weird genetic things come to mind, where it seems random at the time, but gets explained at some point during the grand scheme of events. Outlander, or Charles Stross’s Merchant Princes series for example.